Fun-Time Friday for the Letter H

1. Hats and Hawaii--Play some make believe games with the letter H! Collect a bunch of old hats and try them on. Then, make up a story to go with the hats, (i.e. talk about being a cowboy on a ranch and riding your horses with your cowboy hat on). OR Pretend you are in Hawaii and learn to do the Hula!

2. Hand Play--Learn the song, "Where is Thumbkin?"

3. Hide and Seek--Play a game of hide and seek!

4. Hairdo--Get a comb, brush, barrettes, and clips. Be creative styling each others' hair.

5. Hokey Pokey--Learn to do the Hokey Pokey. Or, for more songs that start with H, try this site.

What to Eat or Drink:
1. Hot dogs
2. Hamburgers
3. Ham
4. Hashbrowns
5. Honeydew
6. Hummus (serve with baby carrots for a healthy snack!)
7. Hot Chocolate

Try It Out Thursday - H Week

Books to Read:

Happy Birthday to You! (Classic Seuss) (Hardcover)

When You Are Happy (Hardcover)by Eileen Spinelli (Author), Geraldo Valerio (Illustrator)

Mama Always Comes Home (Paperback)by Karma Wilson (Author), Brooke Dyer (Illustrator)

The Horse in Harry's Room (Level 1) (Paperback)by Syd Hoff (Illustrator)

Products To Try:

Plush Pony Rocking Horse by Toy Concepts

Hungry Hungry Hippos Other products by Hasbro

Deluxe Hockey Goal Set Other products by Mylec

Career Hats (set of 5) by Kaplan Early Learning Company

Where do We Go Wednesday - H Week

Think of some new places that you can go that begin with an H. Here are a couple we thought of. Enjoy your time out today.

• Hot dog stand - Go grab a hot dog at a nearby hot dog stand.
• Hospital - Go visit your local children's hospital and have a tour. Have your children make cards for the sick children.
• Horseback riding - Go to a near by horse farm and ride a horse.
• Hairdresser - Go to your hairdresser and get a new hair style.

Time Together Tuesday for H Week

Talk about the letter H with your children this week. See if they can think of any words that begin with H. Here are some fun projects for your children to do this week.

• Hands - Take a piece of construction paper. Place both hands on it and trace them with a pencil. Have fun coloring your hands or using paint to fill them in. Or you can place your hands in paint and put them on construction paper.
• Happy Face - Draw happy faces or take a magazine and cut out pictures of happy faces and glue them on paper.
• Heaven - Paint a picture of what heaven means to you and what you think Heaven will look like.
• Horse - Talk about horses and click here to print some pictures to color: http://images.google.com/images?q=horse+coloring+picture&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title
• Hats - Make all different types of hats, crowns, clown hats, anything you can think of. Here's some information on making hats from this website click here to see the figures: http://www.herzogbr.net/fun/hat.htm
  
  "With these instructions, you can actually make four different kinds of papers hats:
• the traditional "triangle" or "napoleon" hat (see the note in step three)
• the "corporal's" or "military" hat (see note 1 in step seven)
• the "bishop's" hat (see note 2 in step seven)
• the "painter's" or "pillbox" hat (complete entire instructions)

step one

fold a piece of newspaper in half.note: obviously, the bigger the paper, the bigger the hat. depending on the size of the head you wish to cover, you'll have to experiment to find the right-sized paper.

step two

fold the two folded corners to the middle

step three

fold the bottom flap (only the one on top) in half, then up againnote: for those of you looking for the easy way out, or how to make the traditional "triangle" or "napoleon" hat, you can bail out now. all you need to do is fold up the other bottom flap like you did the first one up to the otherside, then open the hat up from the bottom.

step four
flip the paper over so that you're looking at the "flat" back of the paper. fold the two sides in until the meet in the middle as shown in image 4a. then fold the top point down (folding on the line made by the top of the two side folds) as shown in 4b, and make sure the tip of the point tucks under the band. the final result should look like 4c.note: this step heavily depends on what size and shape paper you're using- varying sizes might produce something different that what the "finished" image looks like. i think you'll see that all the parts are there, although they may be proportionatly different in size from the image.note 2: it was pointed out to me that hat band, or head size, is determined by where the side folds are made. Make the folds closer to the centerline for small heads, wider apart for large heads. as always, experiment a few times for best results.

step five

fold the two bottom corners innote: again, paper size will might produce results different from the image. when folding up the two bottom corners, you might find that they don't make a nice point as shown in image six. that doesn't matter. just fold them up so that they form little right-triangles, and then move on to step six.

step six

fold the bottom point in half, then up again so that you can tuck the point in behind the band

step seven
now this is kind of a tricky one. image 7a is what you should be left with after step six. so, grasp the two bottom points of the band (the red dots in image 7b) and pull them apart- one towards you, one away- so that the hat opens up. pull them completly apart so that the sides of the hole you're producing (orange dots in image 7b) meet together in the middle (as in image 7c).note: again, here's another way out- if you stop after step 7a, you will have made a military or corporal's hat. i think this kind of hat comes off too easily, especially if a little kid is wearing it. of course, you can always punch a couple holes on either side and fashion a chin-strap out of a peice of string.note 2: also, this is where you can stop if you want to make a "bishop's" hat- the kind that is really tall and comes to a point. to make this, after step seven a, unfold the pointed flap on the top, so that it sticks up. then, just seperate the bottom so it fits on your head, and you're ready to guide your respective flock to eternal enlightenment.

step eight
fold the two edge corners in half, then fold them again so that you can tuck them into the band (8a). then, grasp the orange dots and open the bottom opening again. the opening should now be more or less round, and you should be able to put it on your head. if it's too small (or too big), try it again with a different size piece of paper. "

Morality Monday--H is for Humility

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself." (Philippians 2:3)

This week, focus on being humble! Tell the story of how Jesus even washed his own disciples feet (John 13). Explain humility to your children and the difference between being humble and being prideful. Then, think of ways to act out humility. Do service acts for each other throughout the week, or do an anonymous service act as a family for someone you know. Focus on letting others go first (maybe if your child has friends over this week, he or she could always let the friend go first). You could even model this idea for your children by letting someone go ahead of you in line at the grocery store!

Remember, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2)

Weaning my baby

Grant February 2008

Grant March 2007

Here's my quick weekend question! My baby is going to be one years old next Monday. I am trying to ween him but would love any comments or feedback with ideas that worked for you. My older son was easy to ween since he took a pacifer but Grant, my baby won't. He can't stand it. This makes weaning a lot harder. So, if you have any great tips, please post them under comments. I appreciate all your help. Attached is my baby when he was born. I can't believe he is going to be one. I went through so much to have him and am so blessed to be with him each day.

Fun Time Together Friday - G Week

• Green - Learn the color green. Make a game of it. Who can find something green in the house? Who can find green outside? What other things are green?

• Golf - Take your children minature golfing or take them to the driving range and hit some golf balls.

• Go and Stop game - Choose a leader. Leader yells go and everyone runs around in a circle. The leader yells stop and everyone stops and poses like a statue. Now the leader chooses the favorite pose and that person gets to be the leader.

• Gallop - Learn to gallop. Gallop all around the room. What animals gallop?

• Guessing - Play the guessing game. Everyone guess. Example: What has four legs and says bow wow? Answer: A dog. What is white and falls from the sky? Example: snow

What to drink? Grape Juice, Grapefruit juice, Geen Tea

What to Eat? Grapes, Grapefruit, Gingerbread, Ginger snaps, Granola, Green beans

Granola Candy Recipe:

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup crunchy Granola cereal

Mix and form into balls. Add more honey if you need to make it stick. Yummy. They are goof. Variation: Add peanut butter instead of nuts.

Talk about God and how great He is and how important God is.

Give and it shall be given unto you. Luke 6:38 - Talk about giving and think of things your children can give to others. Have them go through their toys and look at giving them to the poor.

Try It Out Thursday - G Week

Books to Read:

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz

Green Eggs and Ham (I Can Read It All by Myself Beginner Books) by Dr. Seuss

How Groundhog's Garden Grew (Hardcover)by Lynne Cherry (Illustrator)

Products to Try:

Fisher-Price Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym by Fisher-Price

Go Baby Go Sit-To-Stand Giraffe

Fisher Price Little People Racin' Ramps Garage by Fisher-Price

Glamour DollhouseOther products by KidKraft

Where do We Go Wednesday - G Week

• Gymboree - Go attend a class or open playtime. My children absolutly love it. Or you can see a local Gymnastics facility has open play. If so, go visit.

• Grass - Go roll in the grass. Isn't it fun!
• Grocery - Go to your favorite grocery store and ask them if you can have a tour.

• Grandma and Grandpa - Visit your Grandparents if they live close. If not, you can plan a trip to visit them. Also, you can adopt a Grandparent at the nursing home. They would love to have some company.

Time Together Tuesday of G Week

Look in a magazine this week and cut out pictures of things that begin with the letter G. Also write down words that begin with a G. Try to only use as much Green paper and Green crayons this week. Here are couple of projects you can all do together. My son loves arts and crafts and today is a great day to teach him a letter and allow him to have fun at the same time.

• Green - Cut out all different shapes with Green construction paper (triangle, square, hearts, circles, rectangles, etc.) Paste the shapes on paper and discuss them with your child.
• Giraffe - Draw the biggest giraffe you can or you can print a picture and have your child color it. Here's a link to many giraffe coloring pages http://www.coloring.ws/giraffe.htm Talk about why giraffe's have such long necks.
• Gum drop tree - Buy a styrofoam cone and attach gum drops to it with a toothpick. Fill up the cone. You can use it for decorations. Count the number of different color gum drops and then have fun eating it.
• Gorilla - Draw or color a picture of a gorilla and discuss what it it. Here's a website with a coloring page: http://www.apples4theteacher.com/coloring-pages/interactive-alphabet/letter-g/gorilla.html
• God - Have your chold draw a picture of what they think God looks like. If you have more than one child they can each draw the picture and discuss the differences.

Morality Monday--G is for Generosity

"Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap." (Luke 6:38)

In the Catholic church, Lent is a perfect time to focus on Generosity, but it is always a good thing to teach our children. This Scripture reminds us that the more we give of ourselves and the more we use our gifts for God's glory, the more room we will have to receive the good things that He has in store for us. Giving and generosity is sometimes a hard concept for young children to understand, since they want every toy to be "mine," and we constantly have to remind them to share. But, adults are often selfish too; we may not have problems sharing our toys, but we often have problems really sharing with those who are less fortunate than us. So, use this week to work on giving!

Elle holding our Rice Bowl

Every Lent, we receive a little cardboard box to take up donations for Operation Rice Bowl, and this is a great way to continue focusing on giving throughout Lent. Many people fast once a week and use the money they save to give to Operation Rice Bowl, but you could also have your children forgo getting a toy or some other special treat and have them put that money in the donation box.

If you don't have an Operation Rice Bowl box, make your own and contribute money to a charity of your choice. Compassion International is another great organization, and your children can help you choose a child to sponsor. This way, they can put a face with the donation, and they will receive letters and pictures of their new friend in a faraway country. A group of bloggers actually just went to Uganda on behalf of Compassion, and there are some great stories on their blogs. Here are two moms' blogs to check out: BooMama and Rocks in My Dryer (you may have to scroll down a little to get to the stories, but they are definitely worth reading!). Maybe you can even decide to give up something as a family (such as eating out) and contribute that money to your sponsor child instead.

You could also use this week to give not only of your material possessions, but of yourselves. Do a service project for another family or go outside and pick up trash on a street in your neighborhood or (if your children are old enough to help) call the local food bank and volunteer to help out. It is important to always remember how blessed we are and that everything we have is not really ours! And remember, the more we give, the more God will bless us in return!

Fun Time Friday

• Party - Invite your childs friends over and have a Valentines Party. You can have red drinks and make heart cookies or cupcakes.
• Playdough - Make red playdough and put out heart shapes X's and O's.
• Valentine Hunt - Cut out heart shapes or take some valentine cards and hide them. Have your child search the house for them.
• Movie and Candy - Rent a movie about Valentines day and read some books. Go to the store and by all kinds of heart candy. Have fun searching for the different kinds. Read stories and then watch a movie about the holiday and eat heart candys.

What to drink? A special valentine punch: Take two 2 liter of gingerale, a can of frozen lemonade and a box of frozen strawberries. Mix together and enjoy. You can even add red food coloring for more color.

What to eat? Heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, heart cookies and cupcakes.



Talk about love with your children and what it means to love others. Tell them that they can show love by obeying their parents.

Matthew 19:19 NAS
HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER ; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF ."

Try It Out Thursday - Valentine's Week

Happy Valentine Day to you all. We hope you have a wonderful time with those you love. Here are some ideas for you children for Valentines Day.





Books To Read:





The Story of Valentine's Day by Nancy Skarmeas, Stacy Pickett-Venturi, and Stacy Venturi-Pickett













My First Valentine's Day Book (First Holiday Books) (Board book)by Editors of Kingfisher (Editor) "

















Valentine's Day at the Zoo (Pop Up Book) (Paperback)by Nadine Bernard Westcott (Illustrator)

















Where Is Baby's Valentine?: A Lift-the-Flap Book (Board book)by Karen Katz (Illustrator)













Products to Try:









Playskool Mr. Potato Head Valentine's Day Sweetheart Spud

2007 Barbie I Love Valentine's Day Valentine Doll

Shining Stars Russ Plush Stuffed Animal Monkey (Valentines Day Limited Edition)

Barney: Be My Valentine (2000)

Where-are-we-going Wednesday?--Valentine's Week

1. Visit a nursing home or children's hospital and "spread the love". Bring homemade Valentine's Day cards to give out, and bring some homemade or store-bought cookies to share. Make sure you call ahead to check on the best time to come and food items that are okay to bring.

2. Surprise daddy at work with a special Valentine! He'll love seeing you even more than the card. Or, bring one to a grandparent or special neighbor.

3. Go to a bakery that sells Valentine's Day treats and share a special snack. If you call ahead and ask, they may even let your child help put the finishing touches on his or her treat! Or, if you have an old-fashioned candy shop near you, go watch them make candy and buy some to share on Valentine's Day.

4. Make a Valentine's Day card for a soldier you know or one in your community. Take your child to the post office to mail it. If you don't know any soldiers, visit this website (Let's Say Thanks) and send a card from home!

Mom's Best Wisdom on TV

Please check out Ellen Mongan tomorrow, Wednesday February 13, 2008 from 8 pm to 10 pm. She will be on WBPI TV 49, North Augusta, SC. Ellen and her husband will be speaking on communication in marriage as well as personality differences in marriage.
Our click here to here her talk or check your local station: wbpi.org or streamingfaith.com

Time Together Tuesday - Valentine's Week

Since this week is Valentines Week, here are a couple of crafts to help your children show their love.

• Valentine Notes: Take pink and red construction paper and cut out all different size hearts. Let your children decorate the hearts and address them to each person in the family. One the heart have the child write what they love about that person. Then, put the note in the persons room or lunch box or even put daddy’s in his briefcase. It will be fun for them to read the note while they are away from home.
• Valentine Gifts of Love: Have your child create special coupons for daddy and mommy. Use the computer to create these or you can use construction paper. Let your children decorate them and one you have a couple done, staple them together and you will have a coupon booklet. You can put what ever your child wants to on the coupon. Some examples are: Coupon good for a hug, coupon good for a kiss, coupon good for reading a book etc.
• Valentine Bag or Box: Take a lunch bag and have our child decorate it. You can also use a show box with a hole cut in it. You can use some cut out hearts glued on, stickers, markers and crayons even glitter and glue will work. Anything to make their bag/box special. Once your done, you can bring the bag to school so your child can use it for his or her valentines. Also, if you have siblings, they can create a valentine for each other and put it in their bags.
• Big Valentine: Take a large piece of red construction paper. Cut a large heart out. Next fold it in half and cut a small heart in the middle. Take a picture of your child and put it in the center where the small heart is. After your child has decorated it, he or she can give it to daddy when he gets home or Grandma and Grandpa if they live close.

Here's a link to some other ideas:

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/valentines_gifts_ms/

Morality Monday--Valentine's Day is for Love

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35)

Since Valentine’s Day is this week, we’re taking a break from letters of the alphabet to devote the whole week to this holiday (we’ll do this with every holiday). So, in honor of Valentine’s Day, our attribute for the week is Love. As moms, we spend a lot of time focusing on showing love to our children in a variety of ways, but sometimes, we tend to forget about our spouses. Use this week to find the best way to show love to your husband. One of our favorite books on this topic is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Read the excerpts below to discover your love language and your spouse’s love language. Then, work on finding creative ways to speak this language to your husband!

Excerpted from www.fivelovelanguages.com:

The Five Love Languages

The basic idea is that each of us has a primary love language. Almost never does a husband and wife have the same love language. In order to keep emotional love alive after we come down off the "in love" high, we must learn to speak each other's language. The five love languages are: Words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, quality time, and physical touch.

Words of Affirmation
Mark Twain once said “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” Verbal appreciation speaks powerfully to persons whose primary Love Language is “Words of Affirmation.” Simple statements, such as, “You look great in that suit,” or “You must be the best baker in the world! I love your oatmeal cookies,” are sometimes all a person needs to hear to feel loved.

Quality Time
Quality time is more than mere proximity. It’s about focusing all your energy on your mate. A husband watching sports while talking to his wife is NOT quality time. Unless all of your attention is focused on your mate, even an intimate dinner for two can come and go without a minute of quality time being shared.

Quality conversation is very important in a healthy relationship. It involves sharing experiences, thoughts, feelings and desires in a friendly, uninterrupted context…Quality activities are a very important part of quality time. Many mates feel most loved when they spend physical time together, doing activities that they love to do.

Receiving Gifts
Some mates respond well to visual symbols of love. If you speak this love language, you are more likely to treasure any gift as an expression of love and devotion. People who speak this love language often feel that a lack of gifts represents a lack of love from their mate. Luckily, this love language is one of the easiest to learn.

Acts of Service
Sometimes simple chores around the house can be an undeniable expression of love. Even simple things like laundry and taking out the trash require some form of planning, time, effort, and energy. Just as Jesus demonstrated when he washed the feet of his disciples, doing humble chores can be a very powerful expression of love and devotion to your mate.

Physical Touch
Many mates feel the most loved when they receive physical contact from their partner. For a mate who speaks this love language loudly, physical touch can make or break the relationship.

Go to here to read more about the Five Love Languages and to purchase a copy!

And don't forget to vote in the poll located in the right-hand corner of the blog!

Fun-time Friday for F-Week

1. Fingerpaint--All kids love fingerpainting, so let your little artist create a masterpiece! If you have very young children, give them edible paint to use (i.e. different colors of pudding, corn syrup with food coloring, applesauce, etc.).

2. Family--Who's in your family? Why are families important? Draw a picture of your family.

3. Flag--Paint a picture of what a flag look like to you. Use water colors. Or, try to copy a picture of a certain flag, like the American flag or a flag from one of your favorite countries (since it's F-week, paint the flags of France and Finland and learn more about the countries).

4. Follow the leader--One person is the leader; everyone else follows whatever he or she does. Take turns!

5. Farmer in the Dell--If you have a copy of the song, put it on for your children, and play the game. If not, sing it together while you play! If you only have one child, use stuffed animals for the rest of the people/animals in the song.


What To Drink: Fruit Juice, Fanta

What To Eat:

6. French Fries--Go to your favorite place and have french fries for a snack. Or, make this healthier version at home. And since it's a Friday during Lent, you could even serve them along with these.

7. Fruit--Try out a new fruit, like kiwi or mango, or make a fruit salad: Combine one can drained, crushed pineapple, two cans mandarin oranges, one cup sour cream, one cup coconut, and one package of miniature marshmallows. Stir together and chill before serving. Enjoy!

Talk about the Fruits of the Spirit and how we can use them in our daily life. Galatians 5:22 NAS
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love , joy , peace , patience , kindness , goodness , faithfulness "

Books and Products to Try for F Week

Books to Read:



F Is for Firefighting (Hardcover)by Dori Hillestad Butler (Author), Joan C. Waites (Illustrator)













F Is For Flag (Reading Railroad Books) (Paperback)by Wendy Cheyette Lewison (Author), Barbara Duke (Illustrator) "F is for "flag..."











How to Be a Friend: A Guide to Making Friends and Keeping Them (Dino Life Guides for Families) (Paperback)by Laurie Krasny Brown (Author), Marc Brown (Illustrator) "There are times when it feels good to be by yourself, enjoying your own company..." (more)








One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (Book & Tape) (Paperback)by Dr. Seuss (Author), Rik Mayall (Narrator) "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere..."











Products to Try:







Melissa & Doug Deluxe 10-Piece Magnetic Fishing Game
My son Loves this game. He loves puzzles and he can use the fishing pole to pick up the puzzles as well.






Disney Fairies Figurine Set of 8 with Tinkerbell

The girls all love faries these days. You can get all the different ones as well as the costumes.

Mega Bloks Mega Firetruck

Even my 11 month old loves this one. He can push it around and then use it as a base for his blocks.












Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm
This is always a favorite for my boys. They love it that the farm makes all the sounds of the animals.

Places To Go For F Week

Firestation - Learn all about fireman. Ask for a tour. Look at fireman's masks. Don't be afraid, they are here to save lives.

Florist Shop - Look at all the flowers and plants. Ask for a tour to see how flowers are arranged.

Flowers - You can also go pick some flowers outside. Depending on where you live, there may still be some flowers in bloom.

Farm - Visit a farm. Ask for a tour. Learn about all the different farms (Dairy, Cattle and Vegetable) and what it's like to be a farmer.

Fishing - Go fishing in the pond or lake. Let your child bring his or her own fishing pole or you can make one with a stick and some string.

Activities For F Week

Fish - Find a long stick and attach a 12" string to the stick knotting the string. Cut out shapes if fish with construction paper. Attach the fish to the other end of the string using tape. You can also have your children fish. Put up a sheet and then have your children put the rod into the water (over the sheet) and fish. If you are behind the sheet, you can attach the fish to their rod. Or, if you have a fishing pole, you can take turns playing with it.

Foot and Feet - Trace your childs feet on construction paper with crayons. Or, you can place your childs feet in paint and have them step on paper and make a foot print. Another thing you can do with the paint is have a large paper on the ground and let your child walk around on it and create a design with the paint. As soon as your done, wash your feet so the paint will come off easily. You can even use shaving cream and put your childs feet on black construction paper.

Face - Draw your face. Make funny faces, sad faces, happy faces. Teach your child about these different feelings. Take pictures of the faces you make and show your child the pictures. Here's one of my son.

Four and Five - Take a large piece of construction paper. Write the number four on one half and the number five on the other half of the page. Cut out shapes out of construction paper. Have the children paste four shapes under number four. Cut out any shapes you desire.

Fan - Take a small piece of construction paper. Fold margin one inch. Flip over paper repeat. Keep folding and turning till end of page. Color your fan with your favorite colors

Flowers - Take a piece of construction paper and glue some green pipe down on the paper to make a stem for the flowers. Use colorful tissue paper and glue the tissue to the top of the pipe to make them the flowers. Or, you can draw the flowers on construction paper.

F is for Faith

Remember in Proverbs the Scripture states, “Train up a child in the way of the Lord, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” We, as parents, are responsible for the training to grow our children in the character and the values of Christ. In 2 Timothy 1:5, it says, “He was established in a sincere faith from his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice.” Your children are sponges; they learn from you. This means that they also learn their faith from you. We all know that you can’t teach what you don’t know. You have to have a relationship with Jesus in order to pass it on to your children. Moms, do you have a heart for God? Even in pregnancy, I taught my children about Jesus. I would sing to Jesus and pray often while carrying them inside me. They knew my voice, and I believe they knew Jesus’ voice as well.

Throughout the week, be conscious of how you are modeling your faith to your children. Talk about Jesus often when you eat. Say Family Prayers when you go to sleep and when you drive in the car. Pray and praise; train and love. That’s your job! Here are some more ideas for passing on your faith to your children:

1. First off, give your child to God from conception.

2. Pray for them daily.

3. Instill spiritual family traditions.

4. Encourage questions about spiritual matters and treat them seriously.

5. Expose them to Christian families, preachers and priests, and missionaries.

6. Guard their friendships.

7. Teach community service; look for ways to serve as a family.

8. Discipline in love. Be an encourager, Positive Parenting.

9. Teach them to pray.

10. Teach them to not only read but to act out and live the Scriptures. It’s not how much you know, but how much you become like Christ.

We love to hear faith stories. Please leave us a comment telling us about your child and their walk with God or special ways that you pass your faith onto your children. We also love questions. We may not have all the answers, but the Holy Spirit does. Perhaps, we can help.

Mom's Survival Kit Winner

And the winner is......Milk in the closet! She left the comment:

"These books sound great and very helpful. Great giveaway - thanks!

My husband and I had a very difficult time getting pregnant. We had fertility issues and it ended up taking us three years. After all the procedures we went through, we ended up getting pregnant on our own. Isn't God funny? I think that when one goes through a journey like this, it gives you a different perspective. I am thankful for all of the toys I pick up because it means she is here. I'm thankful for runny noses and poopy diapers because it means she's with us. My favorite thing about being her mommy is waking her up in the morning, though. It's a constant reminder of the miracle of life!
Thanks for this! It was good for my spirit to remember!"

What a wonderful way to look at motherhood! We sent you an e-mail, so look in your inbox for it, and reply in the next few days to claim your prize.

And thanks to everyone who left a comment saying what you love about motherhood! We had over 200 amazing entries, and we thoroughly enjoyed reading every single one and remembering how blessed we are to be moms. There were so many great comments that we even decided to give away some more books, so we'll be sending e-mails out today to a few more participants. We hope you all will come back and visit often to get some ideas and to share your own!